PDF version available for download (PDF help)
Risks Newsletter
Number 254 - 29 April 2006
|
|
|
Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to the TUC at healthandsafety@tuc.org.uk
Risks is the TUC's weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 13,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here . Past issues are available . This edition contains Useful links TUC courses for safety reps Disclaimer and Privacy statement .
- ACTION
- Speak up for better safety reps' rights!
- UNION NEWS
- Rail union wins safety staffing stand-off
- Refuse union threatens attack court action
- Unions think of new ways to work
- TUC supports Work Wise UK
- OTHER NEWS
- Firm fails to escape HSE enforcement action
- Five x-ray scanners have miscarriages
- Six figure fine for metal firm death
- Pottery work linked to asbestos cancer
- International support for asbestos campaign
- Danger factory supplying the UK high street
- Balfour Beatty hasn't paid deaths fine
- Half the workforce still exposed to smoke
- New workplace health czar is a Dame
- INTERNATIONAL NEWS
- Australia: Lives wasted, bosses escape punishment
- Europe: Agreement on workplace silica risks
- UAE: Report reveals massive abuses of migrant workers
- USA: Report calls for action on corporate killers
- USA: Inspectors save lives - if you let them
- EVENTS AND COURSES
- TUC courses for safety reps
- USEFUL LINKS
ACTION
Speak up for better safety reps' rights!
Want better rights for trade union safety reps? Then you better speak up now. After lengthy pressure from the TUC, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) this week issued a Consultative Document 'to seek views on how to encourage, improve and increase worker involvement in health and safety risk management.' The document has been issued by HSE on behalf of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), which says involving workers is a key theme of its strategy, with both HSC and HSE 'committed to improving the quantity and quality of workers' participation in managing health and safety at work.' Commenting on the consultation, which will run to 8 September, HSE chief exec Geoffrey Podger said: 'Workers know the most about the jobs they do, so they are often in the best position to develop safe and practical systems of work.' He added: 'Effective worker involvement can reduce accidents and ill-health. It is fundamental to ensuring the success of all other interventions on health and safety. It is important, therefore, that we actively encourage and support organisations to involve their workers.' In an article in the forthcoming issue of Hazards magazine, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson welcomes the consultation, but adds it does not go far enough. 'The TUC will also be calling for roving safety reps and the right to issue legally-binding improvement notices,' he said. He warns about a reliance on voluntary standards, something raised in the consultative document. 'While we would welcome stronger guidance, only legal changes, with proper enforcement, will have any real effect,' he said. Key TUC demands include proper enforcement of the existing regulations, roving union safety reps, the right to issue provisional improvement notices and the right to stop dangerous work. HSE will be holding regional roadshows to gauge opinion - TUC is urging union reps to attend and put the case for improved safety reps' rights.
- Improving worker involvement - Improving health and safety, Consultative Document CD207, full consultative document, summary document, print-off-and-use feedback form and online feedback form. Single printed copies of the Consultative Document and summary can be obtained from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA, Tel: 01787 881165, Fax: 01787 313 995.
- Comments should be sent to arrive by 8 September 2006 to: Zoe Woodrow, Worker Involvement Programme, HSE, 5th Floor, North Wing, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HS.
- There will be updates on the consultation on the Hazards safety reps webpages. Subscribe to Hazards.
UNION NEWS
Rail union wins safety staffing stand-off
Strike action by more than 750 RMT platform station staff and guards at newly re-privatised South Eastern Trains was averted this week after the company withdrew cuts in platform staff and agreed to honour a pledge to staff certain 'high risk' stations. More than 400 platform station staff had voted by more than six to one for action against the imposition of new working arrangements that would have reduced station staff numbers. Some 350 guards had also voted for action after the company said it would not fulfil a commitment to gate and staff a number of high risk stations. The company this week withdrew the cuts proposal and agreed to revert to previous platform station staff rosters and staffing levels. The company has also agreed to provide additional security at five stations. 'Our members made it clear that imposing station staff cuts and reneging on a pledge to staff high risk stations were not acceptable,' RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. 'The company has now responded positively to our members' concerns and the RMT executive has withdrawn the threat of strike action. We welcome the company's commitment to establish crime and security committees and to monitor and work actively to reduce assaults.' He added: 'Rail workers and passengers alike have the right to go about their business in safety, and we hope the company will now accept that cutting frontline safety critical staff is counter-productive.'
Refuse union threatens attack court action
General union GMB held a mass meeting of its members working on the King's Lynn refuse contract this week, to push for the resolution of grievances including concern at increasing attacks on staff. Both verbal and physical attacks on workers employed by contractor Service Team have continued despite a commitment from King's Lynn Borough Council and the company to tackle the problem. A worker remains in hospital after an attack earlier this month. No action has been taken against the attacker by either the council or company despite evidence from witnesses, said GMB. The union has vowed to take court action against the alleged attacker. GMB organiser Glen Holdom said: 'GMB will no longer accept the assurances of King's Lynn Borough Council and Service Team that they are going to act to stop attacks on our members. GMB will take legal action either with the help of the police or in civil action again the perpetrator. We have the witnesses to the premeditated attack and will be going to court.'
Unions think of new ways to work
The TUC is appealing to academics from the UK and across the world to sign up to a new, free information sharing network. The Union Ideas Network, launched on 24 April, plans to bring together researchers, policy makers and trade unions with the aim of breathing fresh ideas into the union movement. The web-based network is hosted by the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University and the Work and Employment Research Centre at the University of Northumbria. TUC is keen to recruit both industrial relations and employment specialists, but also academics with expertise in other fields such as equalities, economic regeneration and pensions. UIN will provide union officers and researchers with easy access to a wealth of published academic articles and information. The website has an explicit health and safety section, which already includes links to papers on occupational cancer, semiconductor hazards in Scotland and on the dangers of the Health and Safety Executive's drift from enforcer to adviser. The network will also allow unions to identify quickly think tanks and research institutes with desired expertise. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'If unions are to grow and continue to be relevant to workers everywhere, they need to be able to adapt to the changing needs of the modern workplace. Unions are developing new strategies to reach out to young employees, migrant workers and agency workers, but fresh ideas supplied by the Union Ideas Network will help them continue to keep ahead of trends in the world of work.'
- TUC news release. Union Ideas Network. UIN health and safety section.
- Academics, researchers, students and union officers can sign up free online. Organisations are also being encouraged to sign up to the UIN. The joining fee for universities, colleges and research organisations is £75 per year.
TUC supports Work Wise UK
The TUC is backing Work Wise UK, a new three-year initiative to discourage overwork and encourage the widespread adoption of smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'In an economy that is close to full employment, in many sectors workers are shifting their focus to quality of life issues. In practice this means gaining more flexibility over working time, eliminating excessive working hours and cutting down on commuting time.' He added: 'More than 10 million people regularly work overtime, although only half of them are rewarded with extra pay or time off in lieu.' Work Wise UK, organised by the non-profit IT Forum Foundation, will be launched with Work Wise Week, Wednesday 3 May to Tuesday 9 May. It will begin with a London summit where 400 influential delegates from government, unions and business will debate how to deliver a smarter working Britain. Specific proposals for Work Wise Week include: Allowing staff to come in either an hour later or an hour earlier to avoid the rush, with a reciprocal hour shift at the end of the day; allowing staff to take a half hour lunch break each day, and then let them leave at 3.00pm on the last day; and allowing staff to work from home on Friday 5 May. Even a small reduction in the number of people travelling on the roads or by public transport on that day will have a significant effect on congestion and overcrowding, the organisers say. And that means a reduction in commuter stress.
- Workwise news release. Work Wise UK website.
- Work Wise Week, 3-9 May 2006 and news release on the event.
- TUC Changing Times work-life balance webpages. TUC Work Your Proper Hours Day website
OTHER NEWS
Firm fails to escape HSE enforcement action
A firm that tried to wriggle out of a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) improvement notice has had its attempt rejected by an employment tribunal. HSE defended successfully an appeal by Menzies Aviation (UK) Ltd against the improvement notice, served on the company after an HSE inspector spotted baggage handling risks at Manchester Airport. The notice was served on 13 May 2005 following a visit by the inspector to Manchester Airport. The notice required Menzies Aviation to provide 'belt loader' conveyors, or any other equally effective method, to assist in the loading and unloading of luggage to and from the carts used to shuttle the luggage onto and from the planes. Menzies Aviation will now have to comply with the improvement notice. Christine Barringer, speaking for HSE's transportation section, said: 'The industry has already taken the initiative in reducing risks from baggage handling by introducing maximum bag weights. We see the increased use of lifting aids, such as belt loaders and other equipment, as another effective way for the industry to reduce risks further. Naturally, we're pleased that the tribunal has upheld the improvement notice.'
Five x-ray scanners have miscarriages
A union has called for answers after it was revealed five security guards operating new airport body scanners have had miscarriages. The union fears the x-ray machines, which penetrate 1cm under the skin, could be responsible. The Rapiscan Secure 1000 bombards passengers with radiation to 'strip search' them, then beams contours of their naked bodies on to computer screens to detect hidden weapons. The new scanners have been tested at Terminal 4 at Heathrow Airport for the past 18 months. There is allegedly no formal guidance about the potential risk to staff who stand by the machines through their eight-hour shift. Passengers are picked at random to be scanned but workers claim pregnant travellers are excluded. Those who refuse are searched by hand. Airport union TGWU has written letters to airport owner BAA about the health concerns but has not yet filed a formal grievance. The union wants the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to join talks with BAA over the issue. A BAA Heathrow spokesperson said: 'There is ongoing dialogue with the unions over this issue.' She added BAA was happy for HSE to become involved.
Six figure fine for metal firm death
A Birmingham company has been fined £150,000 and £11,722 costs after an employee died as a result of a poorly planned work process. Joseph Ash (Galvanizing) Limited pleaded guilty to three breaches of health and safety legislation in a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). It followed an HSE investigation into the death of employee Akhtar Zaman, who was fatally trapped by a steel gantry. Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Sarah Hilling-McCann said: 'Those managing lifting operations need to provide those working with lifting equipment with sufficient information, instruction and supervision to allow them to sufficiently plan and carry out their work in a safe manner, to ensure that safety measures are implemented, and once implemented, that they are maintained appropriately.' She added: 'Akhtar Zaman was not given sufficient information about the load he was moving and was operating lifting equipment which was not correctly marked or identified.' The company pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.
Pottery work linked to asbestos cancer
A retired pottery worker has submitted a damages claim against Royal Doulton amid allegations the former bone china giant left him with a life-threatening lung disease. John Shenton, 72, claims 12 years spent working for the famous pottery company - when it was Allied English Potteries - exposed him to dust from Asbestolux material. His legal representatives issued a High Court writ after he fell ill with the asbestos cancer mesothelioma eight months ago. Mr Shenton said part of this job at the company - now part of Waterford Wedgwood - was to ensure workers where shielded from heat using Asbestolux insulation boards, a form of asbestos material which can be cut into shape using a handsaw. He said: 'We had to take strict procedures with asbestos, but with Asbestolux no one knew there was a risk.'
International support for asbestos campaign
Unions worldwide called for global ban on asbestos, as part of the 28 April Workers' Memorial Day activities. The call, spearheaded by global building and wood union federation BWI, saw action in countries from Argentina and Burkina Faso to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other global union federations, including the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) and the foodworkers' federation IUF also backed the call. In the UK, an international memorial to the victims of asbestos was inaugurated in Rochdale. The initiative has attracted messages of support from union and campaign organisations around the world, and from families bereaved by asbestos disease. Jason Addy, of the Save Spodden Valley campaign, who organised the memorial, said he expects to receive even more messages, including one from Gordon Brown, which will be displayed in Rochdale Town Hall. Mr Addy said the plaque on the Rochdale memorial will display the word 'asbestos' in a variety of languages, from English and Welsh to Russian and Urdu. 'The languages that will be included on the memorial plaque reflects the connections Rochdale had with asbestos,' he said. The chancellor Gordon Brown is also to plant a tree at a trade union Workers' Memorial Day commemoration in Kirkcaldy. Events were held throughout the country and in over 100 other countries worldwide.
- BWI Workers' Memorial Day webpages and global events listing. IUF news release. IMF news release. International asbestos memorial webpage. Rochdale Observer.
- Workers' Memorial Day events worldwide. TUC Workers' Memorial Day webpage. Hazards Campaign webpage.
Danger factory supplying the UK high street
Serious allegations about the treatment of workers at an overseas clothing supplier to many of Britain's leading high street names have come to light. An investigation by The Observer has found major British retailers are buying tens of thousands of items a month from the Fortune Garment and Woollen Knitting Factory in Cambodia, a factory that International Labour Office (ILO) inspectors judged among the worst in the country on a host of health and safety and trade union rights issues. In September 2002, monitoring by the ILO, a United Nations agency, looked at conditions in 65 Cambodian factories, including Fortune. More violations were detected at Fortune than at almost any other company. In 2004, Fortune had one of the worst records for implementing ILO recommendations. Fortune factory says that since the ILO report in 2002 it has dealt with noise and ventilation problems. But the ILO's inspection in August last year showed the factory had made little improvement on noise, ventilation and sick pay. Fortune has also clamped down on union activity. Workers interviewed by The Observer complained of hot, overcrowded conditions. 'In the washing room there are a lot of chemicals and the ceiling is not high so it gets very hot and stuffy,' said one woman. 'We are given masks but they are not good enough and we often suffer the effects of chemical inhalation.' Poeun Kao, secretary general of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers, described Fortune as 'the worst factory we've come across. The [union] crackdown began in late 2004 and so far 200 people have been dismissed.'
Balfour Beatty hasn't paid deaths fine
The company fined a record £10 million last year for negligence over the Hatfield rail crash has not paid a single penny into court - almost six years after the disaster and over six months after is was found guilty. Four people died and 102 were injured when the King's Cross to Leeds train was derailed by a cracked section of track at Hatfield in October 2000. Balfour Beatty's failure was described by the trial judge as 'one of the worst examples of industrial negligence in a high risk industry I have ever seen' (Risks 228). The firm appealed against the October 2005 fine and against the grounds on which it was made, meaning it could delay or avoid payment, depending on the result of the appeal, due to be heard in the High Court next month. Balfour Beatty recorded a 25 per cent rise in profits to £134 million last year as its order book grew by 12 per cent to £7.6 billion. The company's annual report revealed that Balfour Beatty bosses received £600,000 in bonuses in 2005, the same financial year the firm was fined over Hatfield (Risks 253).
Half the workforce still exposed to smoke
Half the workforce, more than ten million people across Great Britain, still worked in places where smoking is allowed somewhere on the premises, according to new figures released by anti-smoking charity ASH. It found in 2004 more than two million worked in places where smoking is allowed throughout the workplace. ASH says the figures show a clear workplace health divide, with workers in routine and manual occupations more likely to be exposed to other people's smoke than managerial and professional workers. ASH director Deborah Arnott commented: 'These figures show just how important the House of Commons' historic vote to end workplace smoking really was.' She added: 'More than ten million people in Great Britain are still exposed to other people's smoke at work - a major workplace health and safety hazard. Voluntary progress towards no-smoking workplaces has been too slow and haphazard.' She added: 'The Health Bill is now in the House of Lords, where a small group of unelected peers are still working to try to reverse the overwhelming decision taken on a free vote in the House of Commons. These figures show once again why they deserve to fail. We need a smokefree law and we need it as soon as possible.'
New workplace health czar is a Dame
The first 'workplace health czar' has turned out to be Dame. The new czarina, Professor Dame Carol Black, is a doctor and president of the Royal College of Physicians. She becomes the first ever National Director for Health and Work. The government says she will spearhead initiatives promoting and improving health in the workplace, ensuring that people with health conditions and disabilities are supported to enter, return to and continue in work. The role is part of a package of reforms introduced by the Health, Work and Well-being Strategy, launched in October 2005 by the Department of Health, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Health and Safety Executive (Risks 230). DWP minister Lord Hunt said: 'This appointment shows we mean business and this strategy is all about actions and not just words. We are committed to building a world which rehabilitates people rather than rejects them when they experience ill-health or inactivity.' Dame Carol said: 'As an experienced clinician, I am delighted to be given this opportunity to bring a new perspective to health through the world of work and its contribution to social well-being.' The czarina is a rheumatologist with no experience of occupational health and safety. Earlier this year, Hazards magazine warned of 'an invasion of the buttie snatchers', saying that the new workplace health strategy was more concerned with improving lifestyles than improving dangerous workplaces and work practices.
- Department of Health news release.
- Futile exercise? New health, work and well-being strategy puts lifestyle measures first, Hazards magazine, Number 93, pages 18-19, Jan-March 2006.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia: Lives wasted, bosses escape punishment
Australian companies and their directors convicted of safety breaches as a result of workplace deaths and other serious accidents owe almost Aus$5 million (£2m) in unpaid fines imposed by New South Wales (NSW) courts. Such fines are the only penalties the courts impose. A report in the Sydney Morning Herald says more than half the 59 companies that have defaulted on fines in the past five years have been deregistered or are under external administration, meaning the State Debt Recovery Office cannot collect the fines. Failure to pay can result in community service orders or jail, but WorkCover, the prosecuting authority, said no offender had ever been jailed in NSW as a result of workplace safety breaches. The Debt Recovery Office now has 89 unpaid fines over serious workplace safety breaches on its books. Of these, 34 are owed by insolvent companies and amount to more than Aus$2.5 million (£1m). Unpaid fines imposed following deaths total more than $3 million (£1.25m), more than half of which is owed by companies in liquidation or under administration. The NSW secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, Paul Bastian, repeated his union's call for industrial manslaughter laws in the state. Australian unions have been pressing for jail terms for the most serious safety crimes.
Europe: Agreement on workplace silica risks
More than 2 million workers in many different sectors across Europe are to be covered by a joint union-employer pact to reduce risks from exposure to crystalline silica, a substance that can cause lung cancer, respiratory disease and which has been linked to kidney and autoimmune system problems. Two major European trade union federations, EMCEF and EMF, and 15 employers' organisations are signatories to the agreement. The agreement aims to reduce workers' exposure to crystalline silica dust through good practice in the workplace and could benefit workers in construction, engineering, mining, jewellery, quarrying, metalworking and other industries. Bart Samyn, EMF deputy general secretary, said: 'This agreement is important to ensure good health surveillance for the workers involved in the concerned sectors and especially in the prevention of all possible risks involved with respirable silica dust, while at the same time also securing the future perspectives of our industry in Europe.' EMCEF deputy general secretary P Mazeau added: 'Above all, this agreement is important for the improvement of workers' health: it is its primary objective.' According to the agreement, 'the employers and employees and the workers' representatives will jointly make their best endeavours to implement the good practices at site level in as far as applicable.' This 'good practice' list will be constantly updated and a monitoring committee with equal numbers of employee and employer representatives will oversee the agreement. The agreement starts in six months time. EU employment commissioner Vladimír ?pidla witnessed the signing of the document .
- Joint EMF/EMCEF news release [pdf]. EC news release. EMF crystalline silica webpage. EMCEF crystalline silica webpage. Agreement on workers' health protection through the good handling and use of crystalline silica and products [pdf].
UAE: Report reveals massive abuses of migrant workers
A new report on labour standards in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has identified 'massive abuses' of the migrant workers who constitute about 95 per cent of the private sector workforce. The report from global union confederation ICFTU says the abuse of migrant workers includes non-payment of wages, extended working hours without overtime pay and unsafe working conditions resulting in death and injury. The report also expresses serious concern about the persistence of the worst forms of child labour in the UAE. The report calls for the prosecution of those employing children in hazardous jobs or prostitution. The UAE government has announced a new law allowing unions, to take effect by the end of 2006. ICFTU general secretary Guy Ryder said 'it is essential that foreign workers be allowed to join a union, and that the principle according that unions must be free to decide their own structures, is fully respected in the new legislation.'
USA: Report calls for action on corporate killers
A major US health and safety group has launched a national campaign against killer employers. A National Council on Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) 'dirty dozen' report launched the campaign and highlighted 12 companies that it says have been guilty of serious safety violations, including the firms responsible for the Texas City refinery explosion (BP) and the Sago mine disaster (ICG) which between them killed 27 workers. The report, launched ahead of the 28 April Workers' Memorial Day, calls for an overhaul of the regulatory system to ensure that workers get the safety protection the law is supposed to guarantee. The 'Stop Corporate Killers' campaign says there must be an overhaul of the regulatory system to prevent future tragedies. It says there should be stronger enforcement action, including criminal prosecution, to encourage stricter compliance with health and safety standards. Emanuel Blackwell, National COSH chair, commented: 'This list is a disgrace to all working Americans who risk their lives every day to make a living for their families.' And Tammy Miser of United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities (USMWF), the sister of workplace fatality victim Shawn Boone, killed at dirty dozen firm Hays Lemmerz, said: 'We need to act now to save others from the pain and suffering these preventable tragedies bring.' The dirty dozen companies highlighted in the report are: British Petroleum (BP), Cintas Corp, DuPont Corp, Hayes Lemmerz International, Honda Motor Company of America, International Coal Group (ICG), McWane, Safety Bingo Inc, Sunesis, UNICCO, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and WR Grace. BP received a $2.4m (£1.34m) fine this week, following a series of serious violations at an Ohio refinery.
- PHILAPOSH news release. Confined Space. OSHA news release.
- Workplace health and safety: Dirty dozen report [pdf]. United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities (USMWF).
USA: Inspectors save lives - if you let them
Official safety inspectors can do lifesaving work - but only where they are allowed to do their job. Days before a 19 January fire killed two coal miners at the Alma No. 1 Mine operated by Aracoma Mining Co. in West Virginia, a federal inspector tried to close down a portion of the mine because of a fire risk along the conveyor where the deadly blaze began. The demand for production outweighed concerns by Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspector Minness Justice that coal and coal dust along the belt line had accumulated to a danger point and that the conveyer belt's fire-suppression system was not adequate. Justice was told by his supervisors to back off. By contrast, swift action by inspectors in Cleveland saved lives last week. No more than 10 minutes after safety inspectors shut down and evacuated a new school development because of concerns about unsafe roof trusses, the roof fell in and part of the walls collapsed. The action followed an anonymous tip-off to the Cleveland office of official safety watchdog OSHA and a call to County building inspector Art Verdoorn. Both agencies made a surprise visit to the work site, just in time to issue a stop work order minutes ahead of the collapse. Verdoorn estimated a crew of six was pulled off the structure, some on the high beams and some inside.
RESOURCES
New website on nanotech problems
A new website from Friends of the Earth Australia is dedicated to exploring and exposing the potential problems associated with nanotechnology. The slick and very informative site warns that the nanotech revolution has serious implications for the environment, public and workers' health, civil liberties, the global economy and international military relations. FoE Australia says: 'The science of the small has the potential to reshape our world. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that no-one is talking about.' FoE Australia certainly has a lot to say on the issue. The site includes articles, background papers and links to other key sites. There are also active discussion areas where you can share your views on nanotechnology and how the community can best respond to its risks.
EVENTS AND COURSES
TUC courses for safety reps
COURSES FOR APRIL TO JULY 2006
USEFUL LINKS
- Visit the TUC http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/ website pages on health and safety. See what's on offer from TUC Publications and What's On in health and safety.
- Subscribe to Hazards magazine, supported by the TUC as a key source of information for union safety reps.
- What's new in the HSC/E and the European Agency.
- HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA. Tel: 01787 881165; fax: 01787 313995
Newsletter (5,000 words) issued 28 Apr 2006
